Auldyn Matthews

Just when things felt like they were getting steady with Keegan’s treatment plan, that all went out the window. We’ve been through a long diagnosis, multiple treatment plans, and a...

Almost every morning, I wake up at 5am to get ready for work. I pack a lunch for my daughter and hope to get ready and not wake anyone else...

Did you know that researchers discovered the connection between HLA-B27 and AxSpa in the early 70s? And that biologics were introduced in the late 90s and early 2000s? I didn’t...

Being a stay-at-home parent, living with AxSpa, and dealing with fibromyalgia isn’t just enough for someone’s plate, but makes one’s plate overflowing. Keegan, my husband with AxSpa, recently celebrated his...

Any parent of a 4-year-old and 2-year old will admit that things tend to get pretty silly in their house. Add in an AxSpa diagnosis, and silliness becomes a core...

ChatGPT, a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI), has been making headlines lately. As a faculty member teaching human-computer interaction, a discipline focused on how humans interact with technology, I...

For the last 6 months, I’ve been navigating the special pharmacy world extensively. For a variety of reasons, my health insurance benefits changed 3 times in that span of time...

Living with a chronic condition like AxSpa can be challenging on its own, but when external factors exacerbate the symptoms, the struggle intensifies. Keegan, my husband, has been battling AxSpa...

Last night, my husband with AxSpa, Keegan, went out for a creativity circle gathering at our Unitarian Universalist church. He’s been struggling with a flare-up for a few weeks now...

Becoming a parent brings so many unanticipated joys and challenges, but one my husband and I never thought about before was how we would talk to the kids about AxSpa...

I have a hate-love relationship for the term “baby steps.” Maybe this is because of my perspective as a parent (and the hard work it takes to teaching the basics...

My husband Keegan finally hit the point where his AS was stable. The last few years brought lots of challenges that impacted his AS: 2 babies, 2 total hip replacements...

Sometimes, you just gotta let it out. That comes from a caregiver myself as well as seeing my husband go through so much frustration during diagnosis, treatment, and multiple surgeries...

Tonight was the first night our young family had a moment to enjoy dinner on our back porch. We finally set up the table and chairs ordered months go. It...

It’s official! Keegan’s doctor diagnosed him with fibromyalgia. To those of you who haven’t seen my previous post, I had been worried about additional diagnoses Keegan may have. After all...

“Understanding is love’s other name. If you don’t understand you can’t love.” -Thich Nhat Hanh If you met me and told me about a problem you are having in your...

My happy place is blue-sky thinking. It’s the place where constraints can change, where resources and money are infinite, and where my job often needs me to be (as a...

Do you have a flare-up kit? If not, I highly recommend it. We never consciously thought about putting a flare-up kit together. But what I’ve noticed in the last few...

While not a topic that pops up often, it’s one that’s close to my heart. The journey I’ve taken with Keegan, my husband with AS, shifted my perspective on spirituality...

Sometimes Keegan, my husband with AxSpa, doesn’t need me. Sometimes, Keegan is back at 80% or 90% or 99%, and I am not needed. It’s a strange place to be...